Judges 3:5-31, God can use all kinds of people to accomplish his will

Judg 3:5-11 (NIV) The Israelites lived among the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. 6 They took their daughters in marriage and gave their own daughters to their sons, and served their gods.

7 The Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord; they forgot the Lord their God and served the Baals and the Asherahs. 8 The anger of the Lord burned against Israel so that he sold them into the hands of Cushan-Rishathaim king of Aram Naharaim, to whom the Israelites were subject for eight years. 9 But when they cried out to the Lord, he raised up for them a deliverer, Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother, who saved them. 10 The Spirit of the Lord came upon him, so that he became Israel's judge and went to war. The Lord gave Cushan-Rishathaim king of Aram into the hands of Othniel, who overpowered him. 11 So the land had peace for forty years, until Othniel son of Kenaz died.

• Here is the pattern that was previously referred to. It will be repeated for the next few and then as we go farther along in the book, some of the details will be left off. Obviously, the pattern is clear and does not need to be retold every time, but let's review …
• Israelites did evil (preceding this verse in a summary of the earlier problem)
• Made covenants (in this case, marriage)
• Did not destroy the altars (in this case, served their gods)
• Forgot God
• Served Baals
• Served Asherahs
• "Gotta serve somebody" - Keith Green song
• Anger of the Lord burns against Israel
• Consequently, they are "sold" into the hands of an enemy
• How does God sell a nation to another nation?
• Israel cries out to the Lord
• God raises up a deliverer
• In this case it is Caleb's younger brother (or his son, the wording is a little difficult)
• The Spirit of the Lord comes upon him (only after the Spirit comes upon him that he goes to war)
• The Lord gives the foreign king into the hands of His appointed savior
• Proving God is sovereign
• Proving that it is a combination of war (people fighting) and God giving the victory
• The land (and consequently the people) has peace
• APPLlCATION: What do you do when things are going well?
• APPLlCATION: How do you protect yourself from taking God for granted?

• Not sure what it means, but from what tribe does the first deliverer come from?
• Judah
• Show map detailing that nearly every tribe has a deliverer at one time or another

Judges 3:12-15 (NIV) Once again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord, and because they did this evil the Lord gave Eglon king of Moab power over Israel. 13 Getting the Ammonites and Amalekites to join him, Eglon came and attacked Israel, and they took possession of the City of Palms.  14 The Israelites were subject to Eglon king of Moab for eighteen years.

15 Again the Israelites cried out to the Lord, and he gave them a deliverer — Ehud, a left-handed man, the son of Gera the Benjamite. The Israelites sent him with tribute to Eglon king of Moab.

• This time the deliverer comes from where? Benjamin
• Again we what pattern?
• Evil
• Lord giving the people over
• Israel in slavery (or bondage) for 18 years
• Israel cries out for a deliverer
• God provides a deliverer (a way out)

• Let's put the principles into a NT setting for a believer. How might it fit?
• Believer falls into sin
• God disciplines the believer. God allows him to experience consequences of his actions
• Believer repents
• God provides a way out

• APPLICATION: Earlier, we discussed three steps to protect yourself from falling into sin, what were they?
• Fellowship with God
• Fellowship with other believers. (Bad company corrupts good morals)
• Good spiritually accountable relationships

Judg 3:16-31 (NIV) Now Ehud had made a double-edged sword about a foot and a half long, which he strapped to his right thigh under his clothing. 17 He presented the tribute to Eglon king of Moab, who was a very fat man. 18 After Ehud had presented the tribute, he sent on their way the men who had carried it. 19 At the idols near Gilgal he himself turned back and said, "I have a secret message for you, O king."

The king said, "Quiet!" And all his attendants left him.

20 Ehud then approached him while he was sitting alone in the upper room of his summer palace and said, "I have a message from God for you." As the king rose from his seat, 21 Ehud reached with his left hand, drew the sword from his right thigh and plunged it into the king's belly. 22 Even the handle sank in after the blade, which came out his back. Ehud did not pull the sword out, and the fat closed in over it. 23 Then Ehud went out to the porch; he shut the doors of the upper room behind him and locked them.

24 After he had gone, the servants came and found the doors of the upper room locked. They said, "He must be relieving himself in the inner room of the house." 25 They waited to the point of embarrassment, but when he did not open the doors of the room, they took a key and unlocked them. There they saw their lord fallen to the floor, dead.

26 While they waited, Ehud got away. He passed by the idols and escaped to Seirah. 27 When he arrived there, he blew a trumpet in the hill country of Ephraim, and the Israelites went down with him from the hills, with him leading them.

28 "Follow me," he ordered, "for the Lord has given Moab, your enemy, into your hands." So they followed him down and, taking possession of the fords of the Jordan that led to Moab, they allowed no one to cross over. 29 At that time they struck down about ten thousand Moabites, all vigorous and strong; not a man escaped. 30 That day Moab was made subject to Israel, and the land had peace for eighty years.

31 After Ehud came Shamgar son of Anath, who struck down six hundred Philistines with an oxgoad. He too saved Israel.

• An interesting story. Ehud was very successful, but how?
• Makes a sword (so he had blacksmith skills). The possession of swords was probably illegal
• Hides his sword (under clothing, along the leg)
• Takes courage to carry sword to palace
• Used tribute as an entre
• Gained trust by giving a gift and not attacking the King the first time they met
• Used secrecy to gain privacy with King (a message with God -- and it was a message)
• He takes the initiative to move while a power vacuum exists (a lack of appointed leadership)
• Overall, Ehud uses deceit and essentially a con to kill Eglon

• APPLICATION: Ehud is called a judge. God uses a man who does not act in a manner that we are used to. Later with Gideon, God provided the strategy, in this case, he allows Ehud to plan the attack. In both cases, God is sovereign, even when the actions may not be considered moral

• How is the story of Shamgar different from either Ehud or later, Gideon?
• Ehud illegally made a weapon, a sword (or a dagger)
• Shamgar legally uses a tool for plowing to accomplish his rescue of Israel

• APPLICATION: There is no one specific way God must work but he can use a variety of means and people to accomplish his will

Judges 2:6-3:4, The importance of spiritual leadership and a personal relationship with God

Judges 2:6-10 (NIV) After Joshua had dismissed the Israelites, they went to take possession of the land, each to his own inheritance. 7 The people served the Lord throughout the lifetime of Joshua and of the elders who outlived him and who had seen all the great things the Lord had done for Israel.


8 Joshua son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died at the age of a hundred and ten. 9 And they buried him in the land of his inheritance, at Timnath Heres in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash.


10 After that whole generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation grew up, who knew neither the Lord nor what he had done for Israel.


• In chapter one, we start out with the death of Joshua and what happened among the tribes in finishing the clearing out of the land. It ends with the failure to clear out the land and the reasons in chapter 2:1-5
• Now 2:6 starts out with a flashback, which is also a summary of the end of the book of Joshua and the first chapter of Judges. In fact, this whole chapter is both a summary of where they started and how they lived over the next 200 plus years
• What is the author trying to do with these opening verses?
• Show how and why they failed
• What is his argument?
• The next generation, second generation believers, did not truly know what God had done for Israel. They only knew the stories
• Good spiritual leadership died. Why is that important? Good spiritual leadership is willing to ask hard questions and challenge your life. If you stay away from spiritual authority, it is because you are not willing to have your life challenged. We need people who will hold us accountable. Without that type of leadership, it is easy to fall into patterns of sin
• The people didn't really know God. Why is that important? Without a relationship, it is not faith but just a set of rules (religion). And rules will not carry you though in life
• APPLICATION: Who is a spiritual authority in your life? Do you have someone that you would trust to call your actions into questions? Or do you avoid having that type of leadership involved in your life?
• APPLICATION: Do you have a growing relationship with God, or is God only a set of rules?


Judges 2:11-19 (NIV) Then the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord and served the Baals. 12 They forsook the Lord, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of Egypt. They followed and worshiped various gods of the peoples around them. They provoked the Lord to anger 13 because they forsook him and served Baal and the Ashtoreths. 14 In his anger against Israel the Lord handed them over to raiders who plundered them. He sold them to their enemies all around, whom they were no longer able to resist. 15 Whenever Israel went out to fight, the hand of the Lord was against them to defeat them, just as he had sworn to them. They were in great distress.


16 Then the Lord raised up judges, who saved them out of the hands of these raiders. 17 Yet they would not listen to their judges but prostituted themselves to other gods and worshiped them. Unlike their fathers, they quickly turned from the way in which their fathers had walked, the way of obedience to the Lord's commands. 18 Whenever the Lord raised up a judge for them, he was with the judge and saved them out of the hands of their enemies as long as the judge lived; for the Lord had compassion on them as they groaned under those who oppressed and afflicted them. 19 But when the judge died, the people returned to ways even more corrupt than those of their fathers, following other gods and serving and worshiping them. They refused to give up their evil practices and stubborn ways.


• The result for these second generation believers who only knew the stories, who had know spiritual authority, and who saw faith as a set of rules and not a relationship with God, is … what?
• They left God
• They did what the people around them did. What do we call this? They fitted in. They accepted the culture. They talk like them, swore like them, lived like them
• What is today's religion and idols?
• Agnosticism or anything goes, but also atheism
• Sex, entertainment, materialism, whatever makes one happy
• What are other characteristics of this culture?
• Language, coarseness
• Sexual innuendos
• Incivility, cool to be rude or sarcastic
• Cynicism
• How do you think God views his children living like this culture?
• Heb 12:4-11 (NIV) In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. 5 And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons:


"My son, do not make light of the Lord's discipline,
and do not lose heart when he rebukes you,
6 because the Lord disciplines those he loves,
and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son."


7 Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? 8 If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. 9 Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live! 10 Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. 11 No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.
• Heb 12:25-29 (NIV) See to it that you do not refuse him who speaks. If they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, how much less will we, if we turn away from him who warns us from heaven? 26 At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, "Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens."  27 The words "once more" indicate the removing of what can be shaken — that is, created things — so that what cannot be shaken may remain.


28 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, 29 for our "God is a consuming fire."
• Heb 13:4-5 (NIV) Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral. 5 Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said,


"Never will I leave you;
never will I forsake you."
• APPLICATION: Not all suffering is God's discipline, but God will use suffering to discipline or to get your attention. We need to praying:
• Ps 139:23-24 (NIV)  Search me, O God, and know my heart; // test me and know my anxious thoughts. // 24 See if there is any offensive way in me, // and lead me in the way everlasting.
• So when the people were in great distress because of their sins, what did God do and why?
• He raised up leaders, judges
• I think there were two roles for these judges but because they were imperfect, not all of them did a very good job
• One, they were to save Israel physically by defeating their enemies
• Two, they were to save Israel spiritually by guiding them spiritually, by being an example of a man or woman who only worshiped God, not the heathen culture
• The judges were not effective. Some of it has to do with the judges, but what is the other reason?
• The people were too stubborn
• The people did not want to give up their evil practices and stubborn ways
• THEY LOVED THEIR SIN MORE THAN THEY LOVED GOD
• The lie in the above statement is that loving God is much more satisfying
• APPLICATION: Who are our spiritual leaders and how should we be responding to them?
• Heb 13:7 (NIV) Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith. 
• Heb 13:17 (NIV) Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you.


Judges 2:20-3:4 (NIV) Therefore the Lord was very angry with Israel and said, "Because this nation has violated the covenant that I laid down for their forefathers and has not listened to me, 21 I will no longer drive out before them any of the nations Joshua left when he died. 22 I will use them to test Israel and see whether they will keep the way of the Lord and walk in it as their forefathers did." 23 The Lord had allowed those nations to remain; he did not drive them out at once by giving them into the hands of Joshua.


3:1 These are the nations the Lord left to test all those Israelites who had not experienced any of the wars in Canaan 2 (he did this only to teach warfare to the descendants of the Israelites who had not had previous battle experience): 3 the five rulers of the Philistines, all the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites living in the Lebanon mountains from Mount Baal Hermon to Lebo Hamath. 4 They were left to test the Israelites to see whether they would obey the Lord's commands, which he had given their forefathers through Moses.


• Two reasons are given for life being hard and both are true, what does it say?
• The nations were there to test the people because they had failed to be obedient (verses 2:20-23 and 3:4)
• For those who did not know warfare, the testing was to give them battle experience (verses 3:1-3)
• Red Flag (RF) example: Most pilots in Vietnam were killed in the first ten missions. RF was to created to give them the first ten missions in a controlled environment
• So, while this might seem contradictory, the fact that both reasons are given in the same paragraph means that both reasons are true
• So, because of disobedience, God uses their circumstances to test their faith
• And, God uses their circumstances to teach them warfare
• Why is it necessary to learn warfare if God is your protection?
• Because, when God works in our life, we have to act as well
• We are not compliant puppets
• We have a responsibility to choose, take the first step, and follow through on our actions
• God's responsibility is the results, but that does not mean will lay down on our couch eating chips and watching TV
• APPLICATION: Are you partnering with God? Are you in one of two extremes? 1) God does it all and I don't have to do anything or 2) I have to work hard at it to be successful. The answer lies at both extremes. I need to do my darnedest and I need to trust God completely, and give him the praise

Judges 1:1-2:5, God forgives but does not always change the consequences of our actions

• Not clear who wrote the book. Jewish tradition suggests Samuel

• Judges are different from our concept of judges. Hebrew word "shophet" means bringer of justice. These judges are similar to modern mayors of towns (Constable)

• The book spans a period of about 300 years

• Chronology according to Josephus: (graphics removed)

Judges 1:1-8, 19-21 (NIV) After the death of Joshua, the Israelites asked the Lord, "Who will be the first to go up and fight for us against the Canaanites?"

2 The Lord answered, "Judah is to go; I have given the land into their hands."

3 Then the men of Judah said to the Simeonites their brothers, "Come up with us into the territory allotted to us, to fight against the Canaanites. We in turn will go with you into yours." So the Simeonites went with them.

4 When Judah attacked, the Lord gave the Canaanites and Perizzites into their hands and they struck down ten thousand men at Bezek. 5 It was there that they found Adoni-Bezek and fought against him, putting to rout the Canaanites and Perizzites. 6 Adoni-Bezek fled, but they chased him and caught him, and cut off his thumbs and big toes.

7 Then Adoni-Bezek said, "Seventy kings with their thumbs and big toes cut off have picked up scraps under my table. Now God has paid me back for what I did to them." They brought him to Jerusalem, and he died there.

8 The men of Judah attacked Jerusalem also and took it. They put the city to the sword and set it on fire.

. . .

19 The Lord was with the men of Judah. They took possession of the hill country, but they were unable to drive the people from the plains, because they had iron chariots. 20 As Moses had promised, Hebron was given to Caleb, who drove from it the three sons of Anak. 21 The Benjamites, however, failed to dislodge the Jebusites, who were living in Jerusalem; to this day the Jebusites live there with the Benjamites.

• So how is the book of Judges related to the book of Joshua
• It picks up with the story after his death
• It will return to a discussion of a Joshua but only to make a quick point
• The people are now in the promise land. There is a time of conquest after the preparation of the desert. What should follow the conquest?
• Rest
• But rest does not follow the conquest consistently and that raises the question "why?"

• What is the first thing you notice in the book (besides Joshua's death)
• Israel goes to God for direction
• Judah is the lead tribe

• Judah involves Simeon because of Simeon's close relationship (physically to Judah)
• Initially south of Judah (not clear when it repositions toward the north)

• Cutting off thumbs was an ancient practice
• Used to treat enemies
• Used by parents to keep children out of the army
• Two purposes: incapacitate for war and to brand as cowards

• Adibe-Bezek's comments were probably exaggerated as well as proverbial ("scraps under table")
• The city of Jerusalem is not completely destroyed. Apparently the Jebusites held a strong fort on mount Zion that was never taken until Joshua
• The phraseology could be rendered a little differently here
• Some commentators feel the rendering of the phrase is misleading, with the text ending prior to the "but"
• Either way, there is an implied contrast. The Lord was with the men of Judah and they took the hill country, but … then they do not take the plains, meaning what? The Lord was no longer with the men of Judah

Judges 1:22-36 (NIV) Now the house of Joseph attacked Bethel, and the Lord was with them. 23 When they sent men to spy out Bethel (formerly called Luz), 24 the spies saw a man coming out of the city and they said to him, "Show us how to get into the city and we will see that you are treated well." 25 So he showed them, and they put the city to the sword but spared the man and his whole family. 26 He then went to the land of the Hittites, where he built a city and called it Luz, which is its name to this day.

27 But Manasseh did not drive out the people of Beth Shan or Taanach or Dor or Ibleam or Megiddo and their surrounding settlements, for the Canaanites were determined to live in that land. 28 When Israel became strong, they pressed the Canaanites into forced labor but never drove them out completely. 29 Nor did Ephraim drive out the Canaanites living in Gezer, but the Canaanites continued to live there among them. 30 Neither did Zebulun drive out the Canaanites living in Kitron or Nahalol, who remained among them; but they did subject them to forced labor. 31 Nor did Asher drive out those living in Acco or Sidon or Ahlab or Aczib or Helbah or Aphek or Rehob, 32 and because of this the people of Asher lived among the Canaanite inhabitants of the land. 33 Neither did Naphtali drive out those living in Beth Shemesh or Beth Anath; but the Naphtalites too lived among the Canaanite inhabitants of the land, and those living in Beth Shemesh and Beth Anath became forced laborers for them. 34 The Amorites confined the Danites to the hill country, not allowing them to come down into the plain. 35 And the Amorites were determined also to hold out in Mount Heres, Aijalon and Shaalbim, but when the power of the house of Joseph increased, they too were pressed into forced labor. 36 The boundary of the Amorites was from Scorpion Pass to Sela and beyond.

• How is the first paragraph different from the following paragraph?
• "The Lord was with them" is in the first story
• But God is strangely absent in the following stories

• Who is the house of Joseph? Manasseh and Ephraim
• They start out well, just like Judah, then the "but" and the "nor"

• Who fails?
• Judah // Simeon // Manasseh // Ephraim // Zebulun // Asher // Naphtali // Dan
• Of course, Levi would not be mentioned, nor would Gad and Reuben (other side of the Jordan), leaving Issachar and Benjamin

• So what are our initial conclusion about the people entering the land of rest?
• Things do not proceed well after the death of Joshua
• Some tribes start out well (Judah, Simeon, Ephraim, and Manasseh) but finish poorly
• Others tribes fail
• They are not going to experience the rest they had looked forward to
• Something happened (but, nor, neither, …), and the book has not yet told us what that failure is

Judges 2:1-5 (NIV) The angel of the Lord went up from Gilgal to Bokim and said, "I brought you up out of Egypt and led you into the land that I swore to give to your forefathers. I said, 'I will never break my covenant with you, 2 and you shall not make a covenant with the people of this land, but you shall break down their altars.' Yet you have disobeyed me. Why have you done this? 3 Now therefore I tell you that I will not drive them out before you; they will be [thorns] in your sides and their gods will be a snare to you."

4 When the angel of the Lord had spoken these things to all the Israelites, the people wept aloud, 5 and they called that place Bokim. There they offered sacrifices to the Lord.

• We do not know who this "messenger" of the Lord is. There are various suggestions, but we do know the message
• What is the first part of the message intended to communicate?
• God brought them here
• God led them to the land
• God fulfilled his promise
• God never breaks or will break his covenant

• What is the second part of the message?
• You were required not to make a covenant with the people of this land
• Marriage
• Treaties
• You were required to break down their altars
• They are not historical artifacts to be preserved
• It does not matter how beautiful or grandiose they are

• What is the third part of the message? The consequence of your failure is:
• The people will be thorns in your side
• Their gods will be snares to you

• How do the people respond?
• They cry which suggests repentance
• They worship (offer sacrifices)

• But what does not happen?
• The consequences are not removed. They made irrevocable decisions

• Irrevocable decisions mean that the consequences cannot be altered
• Irrevocable decisions does not mean you are forever cursed. The book is a story of God's mercy and grace to the people. Obedience can change many of the circumstances of your life